COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police are investigating whether two Ohio State University students who were treated for deep burns after coming under fire at an outdoor fraternity party were victims of hazing.
The university placed the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity on interim suspension after a video surfaced on social media showing a large group surrounding two young men on fire Saturday. A student who watched the video called police the next day to report a possible hazing incident, according to an audio recording of the call.
“They stood there watching this kid burn,” the student to whom the video was sent said during a group chat with members of her sorority.
The video shows a group of people standing outside, many wearing the school’s red and white colors, laughing and yelling at two men on the ground with their pants on fire. One lunges at the other and they both roll on the ground. The screams take on a more panicked tone as they struggle to remove their clothes. A spectator holds a small fire extinguisher but is unable to deploy it.
According to the Columbus police report, the victims were both students being treated for “moderate” second- and third-degree burns. The university has not said how the fraternity is connected to the event, but the report lists the fraternity president as part of the investigation.
The report also lists hazing as the charge being investigated and notes that university officials are also looking into whether hazing occurred.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed “Collin’s Law” in 2021, it toughened punishments for hazing following the death of a student at an Ohio University fraternity house. The law’s definition of hazing includes engaging in or compelling anyone to engage in behavior that creates a substantial risk of mental or physical harm and is related to membership in or continued membership in an organization.
Under this law and the federal Stop Campus Hazing Act, signed by President Joe Biden in 2024, the state of Ohio maintains a public list hazing violations and sanctions. This shows that so far this year, four fraternities, one sorority and one co-ed group have been disciplined for hazing. Sigma Alpha Epsilon has not been on the list for five years, although student newspaper The Lantern says it has been sanctioned at least seven times since 2001.
According to newspaper archives, the chapter was found to have violated policies related to alcohol, hazing and dangerous behavior over the years, and at one point had its disciplinary probation extended for failure to comply with sanctions.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon eliminated its “pledge” process for all of its chapters nationwide in 2014, in part due to injuries and deaths.
As of 2022, 46 members of the University of New Hampshire’s SAE chapter have been accused of hazing. Most agreed to carry out community service and avoided any conviction; the three who went to trial were acquitted because the judge said the state had not proven the acts were a “condition of initiation, continued membership, or association with” the fraternity.
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Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Julie Carr-Smyth also contributed from Columbus.
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